The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid MP has today announced that Scotland is set to receive an extra £1.2bn in funding for 2020/21.
This funding was announced as part of the Government's departmental budgets for the next year. They include significant increases in health and education spending in England.
As a result of these spending decisions, Scotland is set to receive £1.125bn in additional resource spending and £90m in extra capital spending.
The Chancellor has also announced an extra £160m for Scottish farmers to resolve an historic issue with CAP funding, following lobbying by Scottish Conservative MPs.
Under the last CAP reform, the UK qualified for convergence uplift because Scotland had a lower payment rate per hectare. However the UK Government at the time distributed this funding proportionally, following previous practice. This extra £160m announced by the Chancellor addresses this historic issue.
Commenting, John Lamont MP said: “This is fantastic news as Scotland is set to benefit from a £1.2bn boost next year.
“I’m particularly pleased that the UK Government has acknowledged that a mistake was made with allocating funds within the UK and Scottish farmers are to be compensated. This is an issue I have repeatedly raised with the Chancellor and his predecessor.
“The SNP must now provide two guarantees. Firstly, they need to promise that every penny of the £160m given to them will go straight to Scottish farmers. Given the fiasco over their new CAP IT system, many will be concerned about the SNP’s ability to pay them.
“Secondly, the SNP need to ensure that none of the extra £1.2bn they will receive next year is wasted. It all needs to go on ensuring our frontline public services, particularly in rural areas like the Borders, are properly funded.”
